R1155

[Yorkie]

It's not for me to lecture others on how to spend their hard-earned cash, but the ludicrous thing is that the person who paid such a ridiculously over-the-top price for it will have been 'congratulated' by e-bay for having 'won' the item. You don't 'win' anything on e-bay - you pay the highest price that anyone is prepared to pay for that item at that time. The item in question is a commonplace piece of ex-WD tat, well enough made, but otherwise unexceptional. They frequently appear on the market at prices from £75 to £150 in various states of disrepair. Seems to me that the one who lost out on this auction has had a lucky escape. At the last NVCF, several good examples remained unsold at less than £200.

There was a series of articles in the long since defunct Short Wave Mag on how to strip an 1155 back to just the coils, tuning cap, dial and tuning drive and 'switchery' fit a new front panel with an S meter, fit a mains power pack, product detector and output stage, blanking off the octal valve-holders and fitting B9G valves. I spent many happy hours doing that conversion and the end result was a short wave receiver which was far superior to the 1155, which is little more than a bog standard domestic superhet, rushed into production for military use. Today, many will see that conversion as an act of vandalism but at the time, 1155s were often adapted by amateurs as short was receivers and the plethora of articles over many years from the 1950s - 70s on how to adapt the R1155 for such use is testimony to its shortcomings, other than for its intended purpose.

I did have an un-modded 1155 which I considered to be nothing more than a dust trap, so it was confined to the loft. When my younger son found out, I was as keen to off-load it onto him as he was to receive it and he has it on display in his 'hobbies room' with other bits of 'militaria'. I'm sure he'll be pleased to know what it might well fetch if ever he's strapped for cash and someone with more money than sense and a low gullibility threshold comes along on e-bay. I guess that like receivers such as Eddystones, most are now in the hands of collectors and tend to only come onto the market when they or their families sell up.

Scoffed and rambled Yorkie:D

I'm perhaps a bit perverse in my outlook, but to me, the appeal of vintage stuff is inversely proportional to its market price. The higher the price, the less I'm attracted to it, even though as often as not, I could afford it. I do have an Ecko A22 - a splendid receiver which I'd never have considered buying, but it was a 70th birthday present from my two sons - a very nice gesture, which was much appreciated, and an enjoyable restoration.